Sebastian Korda

Sebastian Korda (born July 5, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. Korda's career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 23 was achieved on October 16, 2023. He has won one ATP singles tournament, the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open. He also won the junior title at the 2018 Australian Open, 20 years after his father Petr Korda won the Australian Open title.
Early life and background
Korda is the son of two Czech tennis players, former men's world number two Petr Korda and former top 30 women's player Regina Rajchrtová. His father was an Australian Open champion and French Open finalist in both singles and doubles. Sebastian's older sisters Jessica and Nelly are both LPGA golf professionals. Korda grew up playing competitive junior ice hockey from the age of 3, but decided to switch to tennis at the age of 9 after accompanying his father to the 2009 US Open. At age 11, he won a golf tournament in Prague, in which his sister Nelly also competed.
Professional career
2018: ATP debut
Korda made his ATP main draw debut at the New York Open. As a wildcard entry, he lost in the first round to Frances Tiafoe in three sets.
2020: Major debut & fourth round at French Open
Korda made his Masters 1000 debut as a qualifier at the warm-up Western & Southern Open tournament prior to the US Open. Korda made his Grand Slam debut as a wildcard at the US Open where he was defeated by Denis Shapovalov.
As a qualifier, Korda reached the fourth round at the French Open after beating Andreas Seppi, 21st seed John Isner and fellow qualifier Pedro Martínez. He lost to defending (and eventual) champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
2021: First ATP title, Wimbledon fourth round, top 40
Korda reached his first ATP final at the Delray Beach Open defeating Cameron Norrie. He lost to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets.
Korda made another breakthrough run at the Miami Masters, where he reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. He beat 10th seed Fabio Fognini in three sets, 17th seed Aslan Karatsev in straight sets and scored his first top 10 win against Diego Schwartzman in three sets. He lost to 4th seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals. He also reached a then career-high ranking of ATP world No. 62 on April 12, 2021.
In May, Korda lifted his first career ATP Tour singles title at the Emilia-Romagna Open, an ATP 250 tournament first played in 2021 due to the one-week delay of the 2021 French Open. He beat Marco Cecchinato in the final and did not drop a set throughout the tournament. He also became the first American male tennis player to win on European clay since Sam Querrey in 2010. As a result of this successful run, he reached a new then career-high of No. 50 on May 31, 2021.
In June at the Halle Open, his first ever ATP event on grass, Korda picked up his second top 10 win against 6th seed Roberto Bautista Agut along with beating Kei Nishikori en route to the quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Ugo Humbert.
A week later, in his debut at Wimbledon, Korda reached the fourth round for the first time in his career after defeating in-form player and 15th seed Alex de Minaur, qualifier Antoine Hoang, and 22nd seed Dan Evans. However, he lost in the fourth round to 25th seed Karen Khachanov in five tight sets with the score in the fifth set being 10–8 after thirteen breaks of serve. Despite the loss, he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 46 on July 12, 2021.
At the Paris Masters, Korda defeated 13th seed Aslan Karatsev and former world No. 3 Marin Čilić. The win over Karatsev ended the Russian's push to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals.
2022: Australian Open & three Masters third rounds, top 30
Korda started his 2022 season by playing at the Australian Open. In his debut, he upset world No. 12, Cameron Norrie, in the first round for his first victory at this event. He went on to defeat Corentin Moutet in the second round in a tight five-set match with a super tiebreak in the fifth set to reach the third round for the first time at this Major. In the third round, he lost to 19th seed and world No. 21, Pablo Carreño Busta.
Seeded fifth at the Delray Beach Open, Korda reached the quarterfinals where he was defeated by top seed and eventual champion, Cameron Norrie. In Acapulco, he was beaten in the first round by Dušan Lajović. Representing the USA during the Davis Cup tie against Colombia, he beat Nicolás Mejía in his debut. In the end, the USA won the tie over Colombia 4–0 to advance to the Davis Cup Finals. In March, he competed at the BNP Paribas Open. He defeated qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round. In the second round, he faced fourth seed, former world No. 1, and three-time champion, Rafael Nadal. Despite serving a breadstick in the second set and leading 5–2 in the final set, he lost to the eventual finalist in a third-set tiebreak. At the Miami Open, he was knocked out of the tournament in the third round by Miomir Kecmanović.
Korda started his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He upset eighth seed, world No. 11, and recent Miami Open champion, Carlos Alcaraz, in the second round for the biggest win of his season; he gained revenge for his defeat to Alcaraz at the Next Generation ATP Finals. He lost in the third round to 10th seed, world No. 13, and compatriot, Taylor Fritz. In Barcelona, he fell in the first round to Spanish qualifier Carlos Taberner. Seeded eighth at the Estoril Open, he stunned top seed and world No. 10, Félix Auger-Aliassime, in the quarterfinals avenging a 2021 Acapulco loss, for his third top-10 win.
At the 2022 US Open, he reached the second round for the first time at this Major after defeating Facundo Bagnis before losing in a five sets, all-American clash with Tommy Paul.
At the 2022 Gijón Open he reached the third final of his career defeating en route third seed Roberto Bautista Agut, Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and Arthur Rinderknech in the semifinals. He lost to top seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets. He followed it by a fourth final at the 2022 European Open in Antwerp defeating Dominic Thiem before losing to second seed Félix Auger-Aliassime.
2023: Two ATP finals, First Major quarterfinal & top-5 win & Masters semifinal, top 25
Korda started his 2023 season at the Adelaide International 1. He reached his fifth ATP singles final by beating former world No. 1 Andy Murray, world No. 21 Roberto Bautista Agut, sixth seed and world No. 15, Jannik Sinner, and Yoshihito Nishioka via retirement. In the final, he lost to top seed and world No. 5, Novak Djokovic, in three sets despite having a championship point. Seeded 29th at the Australian Open, he stunned seventh seed, world No. 8, and two-time finalist, Daniil Medvedev, in the third round. In the fourth round, he beat 10th seed and world No. 11, Hubert Hurkacz, to reach the quarterfinals of a Major for the first time in his career. He retired during his quarterfinal match against 18th seed and world No. 20, Karen Khachanov, due to a right-wrist injury. Due to his success at the Australian Open, his ranking improved from No. 31 to No. 26.
Korda's right-wrist injury kept him out of action for the next few months. He returned to the tour during the week of April 24 at the Madrid Open. Seeded 22nd, he lost in the second round to French qualifier Hugo Grenier. Seeded 22nd at the Italian Open, he was defeated in the second round by qualifier Roman Safiullin. He also lost in the second round at the 2023 French Open to another qualifier, Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
At the 2023 Queen's Club Championships he reached the semifinals without dropping a set, defeating Dan Evans, fourth seed Frances Tiafoe and fifth seed Cameron Norrie. Following this good run, he lost in the first round at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships to Jiří Veselý who was using protected ranking.
He also lost in the first round to Márton Fucsovics at the US Open.
Starting the Asian swing at the 2023 Zhuhai Championships he defeated Alexandre Müller and fifth seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry to reach another semifinal. The following week he reached his sixth final at the 2023 Astana Open defeating wildcard Hamad Medjedovic before losing to sixth seed Adrian Mannarino.
At the Shanghai Masters he defeated second seed Daniil Medvedev, his second win of the season against the Russian, and first top-5 and top-3 win of his career to reach the fourth round. Next he defeated 20th seed Francisco Cerúndolo to reach the quarterfinals. He reached his first Masters semifinal defeating compatriot Ben Shelton.
Performance timeline
Singles
Current through the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters.
ATP Tour career finals
Singles: 6 (1 title, 5 runner-ups)
ATP Next Generation finals
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 10 (2–8)
Doubles: 6 (2–4)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (1 title)
Record against other players
Record against top 10 players
Korda's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches are considered:
Wins over top 10 players
Korda has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
References
External links
2000 births
Living people
American male tennis players
Sportspeople from Bradenton, Florida
Australian Open (tennis) junior champions
American people of Czech descent
Tennis people from Florida
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles